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Wine, Women and War
| Special = | Appearance = | Also = | Guest = | Co = | With = | Uncredited = | Uncertain = | Producer = Michael Gleason | Writer = Glen A. Larson | Teleplay = | Story = | Director = Russ Mayberry | Prodfilm = 39701 | Prodep=45186 & 45187 |Filmair=20 October 1973 |Epair=4 January 1975 http://www.pazsaz.com/million.html | Original = | Prev = The Six Million Dollar Man | Next = The Solid Gold Kidnapping | Related = }} Summary argues with Dr. Rudy Wells.]] After a mission to steal an arms dealer's catalog in South America goes wrong, resulting in the death of a lover, Col. Steve Austin is resentful when Oscar Goldman tries to get him to go back into the field. Instead, Austin escapes from the bionics facility and heads for a friend's Caribbean vacation home, unaware that his "holiday" is being manipulated by OSI agents. Soon, Austin meets up with a Soviet colleague and finds himself back on the trail of the arms dealer, with revenge for his friend's death on his mind. Trivia *''Wine, Women and War'' originally aired as a 90-minute made-for-TV movie. When the show was released into syndication, this movie was padded out with additional scenes taken from later episodes and split into two one-hour parts. This makes the episodes somewhat long and drawn-out; not to mention that the added scenes cause continuity errors. *The syndicated episodes of this movie do not use the opening credits in their original form which included a theme sung by the well known singer Dusty Springfield. The opening credits from the series is used instead. The version of the series credits used is from late in the show's run, and is identical to that used for The Moon and the Desert, with the exception that Martin E. Brooks' credit is replaced by a credit for Alan Oppenheimer. This was repeated for the syndicated cut of The Solid Gold Kidnapping, making these episodes the only time Oppenheimer received a credit in the show intro for the run of the show (he is typically credited as "Special Guest Star" after the episode title). *Footage taken from later episodes includes: , and "The Return of the Bionic Woman". Footage from the pilot film is also used during an artificially added "flashback" sequence. As a result, both Martin Balsam and Martin E. Brooks can be seen as Rudy Wells, and Darren McGavin can be glimpsed as Oliver Spencer. In the original version of Wine, Women and War, however, Balsam is also visible as Wells during the opening credits sequence which incorporates footage from the pilot. *This movie represents a wholesale replacement of the entire team from the first telefilm both in front of and behind the camera, with the sole exception of Lee Majors. *The footage that shows what looks like an infinite hallway of computer banks at "OSI Headquarters", is taken from the 1970 Universal Studios film Colossus: The Forbin Project. *Footage of the submarine is taken from the 1968 film Ice Station Zebra. *Steve Austin's mission in this movie, is very similar to his first mission in the Martin Caidin novel Cyborg — upon which the show is loosely based. There are also similarities to events in Caidin's second novel, Cyborg II: Operation Nuke. *Richard Anderson debuts here as Oscar Goldman, replacing the Oliver Spencer character played by Darren McGavin. *Actor Alan Oppenheimer replaces Martin Balsam, who originally portrayed Dr. Rudy Wells in the The Six Million Dollar Man pilot. *The "bionic" sound effect was added to Part II — the syndicated episode created from this movie. This effect was not present in the original movie. *This is the first time we observe Austin use his bionic eye, when he needs to see in the dark. A green filter is used on the camera, when we see events from his point of view, similar to what is seen in night vision scopes and goggles in real life (in the series, a red filter suggesting infrared is used instead). But the familiar cross-hair is not superimposed over these POV shots. Also, the sound effect associated with his bionic eye is present in this episode, as well — but it is not associated with the eye's use. Instead, it is used when buttons are pushed on the missile silo's control panel. No sound effect is employed during the debut of the bionic eye. In addition, in the close-ups of the eye, a green light is seen emitting from it; in the subsequent series there would be no indication of the eye emitting light -- although the 2007 reimagining of Bionic Woman would return to the premise of the bionic eye lighting up when in use. *Steve explains tells Katrina that he can see well in the dark because he "eats a lot of carrots". This same cover would be reused in and "Taneha". *Bionic running is not seen in slow motion in this story, as it would be the vast majority of subsequent episodes. Instead, bionic running is depicted in fast motion shots. *Austin briefly enjoys the company of a woman named Tamara at a party. This character is a reference to one in Caidin's Cyborg novel. In the novel, Austin works with an Israeli agent named Tamara Zigon for a time. *Some changes (retconning) of Austin's character occurs in this film. In the previous film, he is described as a civilian test pilot and member of NASA. Starting with this film (and continuing through the series), Austin is now referred to as Col. Steve Austin, with no further reference to him being a civilian. *This telefilm attempted to introduce a new brand/logo for The Six Million Dollar Man, with the words presented in a "tall and skinny" typeface shaped vaguely like a pyramid. Although this would soon be replaced by the more familiar squared off and "stepped" logo, the logo used for Wine, Women and War would be adapted for some spin-off merchandise, such as coloring books and activity books. Not included in the episodic version of the telefilm, the logo created for the telefilm can be seen in the title card animated gif at the top of this page. * The telefilm features the first reference to OSI security clearance levels. Harry Donner has Level 5, which is shown to be high enough for him to communicate with Austin, but not high enough for him to enter the bionics lab (the series would later establish that this requires Level 6 security clearance). Nitpicks *When the patrol boat drops depth charges in an attempt to kill Austin, who is underwater: the same exact footage is used over and over, every time a charge is dropped. *When Austin rips out the electrical cable in missile silo seven, the "rock" wall distorts. *Why was the "bionic" sound effect added to the Part II episode created for syndication, but not to Part I? *The nuclear explosion that ends of the film clearly occurs over desert (since stock footage of a Nevada test explosion is used), however it's established that not only is Findletter's base located in a wooded area and under a cemetery, but some aerial shots suggest residential development nearby (this "collateral damage" is not accounted for in the film). Also related to the explosion, both Austin and Katrina are shown looking directly at the explosion, with no ill effects. *The opening credits break continuity with the original pilot film in several ways: it suggests Oscar Goldman was in communication with Austin just prior to the crash, and subsequently discussed the bionics surgery with Rudy Wells (in the pilot film, it was Oliver Spencer involved with promoting Austin's surgery, and clearly shows he was not in communication with Austin prior to the crash. The dialogue between Austin and Goldman/ground controllers also differs from the previous film. Goldman also states he wants the surgery done "no matter what the cost" while Spencer clearly had a budget in mind ($6 million) in the previous film. Scenes Deleted In Syndication *The scene where Austin punches through a concrete wall after arguing with Rudy Wells, is cut short. We do not see a nearby guard reacting in shock, to seeing Austin's fist go through the wall. (in response) In the original edit, the action continues from Steve's punching the wall, to an extreme close up of his fist emerging, to a wide shot of the 2 guards reacting. In the 2-part syndicated version, the shot of the fist emerging goes to freeze frame, then fades to black. Presumably after a break, we fade in to the shot of the 2 guards reacting. There is no single of either guard, only the 2 shot, and they have no lines. If the above is in reference to cuts made above and beyond the 2-parter by stations, I have no way to verify that. This is based on a side by side viewing of the 2 edits. *The scene where Austin "boxes" a guard's ears during his first visit to Findletter's underground base is cut from the syndicated version (one of the only scenes from the original film not to be retained). There is also an edited version of the TV movie edit which cuts away just as Austin is shown putting his hands on both sides of the guard's head; in the original broadcast Austin slaps his hands together over the ears, causing the guard to scream and collapse (it appears the character is not seriously harmed, however, as he is later seen accompanying Findletter during Austin's second visit to the facility). *As noted above, Dusty Springfield's original theme song is deleted in the syndicated version and replaced with the standard series opening credits. The closing credits of the original film are also changed for syndication; although the still image of the nuclear explosion remains, a piece of instrumental music (not the Six Million Dollar Man theme) plays instead of Springfield's song. The closing credits of Part 1 consist of a still image of Austin running (taken from the telefilm's opening sequence) with the standard Six Million Dollar Man theme music. Novelization Wine, Women and War was adapted as a novel by Mike Jahn, who made numerous changes to the storyline and the characterization of Steve Austin in order to bring the book in line with the original literary continuity of creator Martin Caidin. See Wine, Women and War (novel). Changes include the addition of a scene showing Austin sinking Alexi's yacht (in order to prevent Katrina and the guards from following him) and the addition of a scene where Austin kills two Russian agents with his CO2 poison dart gun (concealed in his bionic hand); this confrontation occurs in the novel after Austin leaves Alexi's yacht. References Wine, Women and War 001